Don't you love meeting new or new-to-you blogs? Recently I was introduced to Jody at Magnolia Mommy Made and I am so excited to share her new kitchen with you!

Well, not exactly new but spiffed up! Jody painted the cabinets with Anne Sloan Chalk Paint, painted her oak trim, changed her brass hardware to oil rubbed bronze with spray paint, and added some chalkboard accents for fun. See what a little paint and some small changes can do? Her kitchen feels lighter and more modern to me.

Hi friends! It seems as if I haven't been around much and I guess I haven't. Ellie is in such an active stage that I rarely have the energy at night to sit on the computer, let alone sew or mod podge something. I am working on two furniture pieces though and I'm so excited to share them with you. But I can't say when that will be.

I have, however, gotten myself back into the kitchen. I guess you can tell since most of my posts are recipes right now! Well, here's another! Dark chocolate dipped meringues. o.m.g.

Do you cook? I used to love it but lately I have been dreading it every night. My kids are fussy eaters. Oops, that's not PC anymore. They are "choosy" eaters. Did you know that? Picky is gasp worthy and fussy is mean-spirited. Whatever. A rose by any other name still smells sweet...my kids don't eat much. They do eat marshmallows, jelly beans, chocolate donuts, and milk. Thank goodness for milk. Then there is Jim. He is also a "choosy" eater. Beets? nope. Mushrooms? Nope. Mustard? Nope. Pickles? Nope. Dark meat chicken? Nope. Nope. Nope. No salmon, no fancy cheeses, no t too many peppers, not too much pasta, no veal, lamb, or shrimp. The list keeps going!So I had a small fit a few weeks ago and since Jim has been much more open to eating things that aren't exactly his favorite. Thank goodness! So I took advantage of his new found openness last night and made pork chops like my mom used to make. I call them Saucy Pepper Pork Chops. And yes, he liked it.

That's what my mom would say to us every spring. I'm guessing she didn't make it up herself but it stuck with me and now I say it to my girls. Molly rolls her eyes at me and corrects the grammar. Ellie sticks her tongue out at me. Sigh.

Are you excited about spring? I am beyond happy. I love seeing the perennials come up and I get all sorts of landscaping ideas in my head. I went to the Home Depot this week during the day and it seems like every old man in the state was there too. Interesting. More interesting, they were all buying flats and flats of pansies. The deer eat our pansies so we aren't going with them this year. Oh dear.

Last week was the worst! I had a nasty stomach bug that lasted for days and days. I only just now started to feel like myself again and since I promised you a topiary tutorial I figured I better get my butt in the chair and get to it! Thank you so much for all your sweet comments and emails about my DIY topiaries I shared with you last week. They were fun to make and, while it took a couple of days to complete the steps, the process was pretty easy.

Don't you love topiaries? I have been wishing for a pair to put in my dining room for spring/summer but I could not bring myself to put out the money. They can be so expensive and frankly, don't look all that great. The larger ones I wanted at Home Goods were $40 each. I will not spend $80 on fake, plastic whatever.

So of course what does a good DIY/craft blogger do? Decide to remake them in her own vision, you say? Don't mind if I do! Here are my finished products!

About Jenny

If I can create beauty, you can too! Creativity is within your reach, trust me. I believe that you don't need any special talents to be creative and you only need to have a willingness to try. So in addition to being a mom, teacher, wife, and sister, I am also a creative tryer!